Garage Project x Ugly Half Beer Collaboration
酉鬼啤酒 UGLY HALF BEER, Taipei, Taiwan. Co-founded 7 years ago by Wellington expat Max Gilbert alongside wife & restaurateur Harn Sun, Ugly Half Beer is dedicated to the work behind the scenes - the work that goes into what makes good beer good.
“The last thing we wanted to be was a brand where you start to scratch the surface, and [you realise] there’s not much there”.
Ugly Half production began in 2019, with their brand new brewery retrofitted into an abandoned factory in Taipei’s Wugu District, and a block party launch that saw the shut down of local streets, with live music amongst the tanks and over 700 people in attendance. In the year that followed, the duo kept up the momentum of their launch event, teaming up with local restaurants & bars to put their product in front of eyes and inside of pints, and an involvement in local art and music not unlike the early days of Garage Project.
With Covid-19 arriving into the world shortly after the release of their third beer, Ugly Half had a somewhat rocky sophomore year, as Taiwan, initially insulated from the direct effects of the pandemic, saw a significant downturn in volume over the summers of 2021 and 2022. Despite the adversity, Ugly Half picked up a Gold Medal at the Melbourne Royal Australia International Beer Awards (AIBA) in 2021 with their bottled Oyster Stout, and a back-to-back Gold for their Jumbo Sour in the following years competition.
Since then the momentum has stayed strong, with over 60 unique brews released to date, Ugly Half has picked up numerous international awards across a wide range of style and flavour profiles, with their innovative TOASTea Lager sitting amongst the contenders. Brewed with the leftover bread crusts of local takeaway breakfasts, together with the morning black tea that is served alongside it, TOASTea is a marriage of Taipei street food culture and thoughtful, sustainable processes.
Fun fact: As of June 2024, Taiwan sits closely behind Austria & Wales as one of the world leaders in global recycling rates, and TOASTea is an excellent example of creative sustainability in the brewing industry - something we’re incredibly passionate about at Garage Project.
Mark Tung (Head Brewer, Ugly Half) & Pete Gillespie (Head Brewer, Garage Project)
Back home, Garage Project has seen a steady increase in presence throughout Asia over the past few years, particularly in Singapore, China & Taiwan. And with one of Wellington’s-own at the co-helm of one of Taiwan’s most fashionable breweries, it doesn't seem like a stretch to say a collab was inevitable.
Cut back a few months to early 2025, and we were stoked to welcome current Ugly Half head brewer Mark Tung into the Garage at Aro Street, sharing with us his knowledge, experience - and most importantly for you, some time at the drawing board to cook up a new brew with Pete. Mark has been with Ugly Half for about a year as of May 2025, and prior to that served as a brewer for the inimitable UK powerhouse, DEYA, who we were also lucky enough to work with earlier this year over harvest - so it’s safe to say, we were in good company.
What came out the other side was nothing short of spectacular - a combination of Royalburn Station alpine-farmed barley malt, high-altitude Nelson Sauvin from the Nelson Lakes Hops farm 400m above sea level, plus Freestyle Farms advanced selection hop Peacharine (which we adore) & a dash of Motueka SubZero Hop kief. The can pours a deluge of thick haze, with intense ripe melon, lush mango, passionfruit and fresh-cut stone fruit coming through from the Peacharine.
References and further reading:
Ron Hanson The News Lens, Taiwan
https://international.thenewslens.com/article/183378
More on Taiwan's brewing history with Mark Tung.
https://www.beer52.com/ferment/article/1792/pride-in-taipei
Taiwanese Waste Efforts
https://rapidtransition.org/stories/taiwans-transition-from-garbage-island-to-recycling-leader/